Baykar’s Turbofan Powered Kızılelma took-off but did not perform an actual maiden flight, apparently.
Baykar Chief Technical Officer Selçuk Bayraktar shared a video of Kızılelma UAV on the air. The UAV is at first flight tests at Çorlu Airport near İstanbul.
The 11-second-long video shows the Kızılelma in the air, landing gear down without touching the ground, and the nose is up. The engine does not sound full throttle. The UAV passes in front of the camera fast enough to take-off but still slowly, and the video is over. The video does not show the UAV gaining altitude or touching down. The official page of Baykar says it was the "hop flight" test.
This test measures the stall, but it is considered very risky as it does not give any chance to save the aircraft in case of failure. It is not preferred to perform most of the time. Therefore there are few examples of such tests. Akıncı had performed a similar test.
The Kızılelma has recently passed the nose-up test on the runway. This is the point where the UAV is fast enough to take-off. TurDef has learned that the throttle was back to idle to prevent the take-off at that time.
A NOTAM (NOtice To AirMen) was published to indicate that there is no flight at Çorlu Airport and that there would be Kızılelma flight tests. The stated time is Zulu Time.
According to weather estimates, there was a wind from northbound to southbound at 15 knots which prevented to perform of the maiden flight.
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